Victory
by blueandblack
Summary: Fourteen 100 word drabbles all based on the prompt 'Victory'.


Wedding Gift, Edward, Jacob/Bella

--

Edward sat in the middle of a sea of pale gifts, his head in his hands.

He had found the one from Jacob Black.

The package held a silver frame and it wasn't empty, oh no, there was a photo of _them_ in it, Bella and the dog, a note that read _Feel free to replace this with a snap from the happy day, Bells._

_Pathetic,_ Edward thought, _an utter child and a sore – _

Except Jacob Black hadn't lost. At the eleventh hour… Edward glanced at the gold band on his finger. No, _after…_

Bella was gone. Jacob had won.

--

Love, Paul/Rachel, Jared/Kim

--

Rachel watched in horror as hotdog after hotdog barrelled fearlessly into Paul's mouth.

She jumped when the timer buzzed, cringed when her husband burst out of his chair, fists raised shouting "Victory! Victory is _mine!_"

"No fucking _way._" Jared said, appalled. "I demand a rematch. Em, are there any sausages left?!"

Rachel smiled when Kim handed her a drink, then grimaced again. "I can't believe I married… that."

Kim giggled. "I know, right. And we can't even blame imprinting."

Rachel sighed heavily. "Nope, it's just love. We're in love with…" Her nose wrinkled at all the high-fiving and sulking. "…_that._"

--

Hollow I, Edward/Bella/Jacob

--

_I did it. I won. I got the girl. _

Jacob finds it is a hollow victory.

The name Edward is way too common, and every time Bella hears it she trembles – Ed, Eddie, hell, Eduardo, it doesn't matter that he was never any of those.

Actually, Jacob is pretty sure it has nothing to do with names. When she gets like that, all faraway and shaken, holding herself tight like she used to… That comes from inside. She doesn't need to hear anything to think of _him._

A part of Jacob's Bella will always be thinking of Edward Cullen.

--

Hollow II, Edward/Bella/Jacob

--

_It's done. She's mine, forever. I won her heart, her body, her life… I won. _

Edward finds it is a hollow victory.

When Bella shivers in his arms like she is still human, mumbles "I wish we could live somewhere where the sun wasn't permanently on strike," Edward is just amused because she is still so irrationally like the living, breathing girl he fell in love with.

It's the furtive glance, the quick apology.

That's what breaks his heart.

That's how he knows she is thinking of _him._

A part of Edward's Bella will always be thinking of Jacob Black.

--

Opportunity Knocks, Laurent/Victoria

--

When James is gone – and not on one of his little missions, dismantled, piled up and cremated gone – Laurent is pleased.

Outwardly he grieves, but in the darker recesses of his mind he rejoices, because his rival has been conquered and opportunity knocks.

He knows he will never win Victoria's heart, but that was always an ugly, shrivelled thing anyway.

Her body is the prize.

Laurent has craved the taste of her sharp tongue for so long, seen himself fucking her hard, _too_ hard, even for little miss tough-as-nails, his hands wrapped up tight in her flame-red curls…

--

Triumph, Carlisle, Edward

--

Changing Edward into a vampire was the most terrifying challenge Carlisle had ever faced. He'd always sworn he would never make another like himself, didn't know whether he was even capable of such control. But as he watched this mother slip from the world, everything in him ached to keep her son in it.

He heard it like a mantra as he leaned in, teeth bared – _There is no risk. One cannot risk what is already lost. I _must _try…_

Even during Edward's years in a bloody wilderness, Carlisle still considered his first son to be his greatest triumph.

--

Big Chance, Mike, Jacob/Bella

--

This had to be the worst experience of Mike's life.

And to think, just a few hours ago, he'd been relishing Ben's words – _I guess it'll be sort of a double date_ –, practically doing a victory dance while he'd showered and hunted around for the green shirt that brought out his eyes.

This was supposed to be his big chance with Bella Swan.

And now here he was, throwing up in a public restroom, while she waited outside with that huge Quileute kid she was so _obviously_ into.

Mike rolled his eyes.

_Waiting? They probably just left already._

_--_

Try Harder, Jacob/Bella

--

Bella inhaled sharply, legs locking around Jacob's hips, hands clutching at his shoulders. She bit her lip on the way down, murmured "I win… again."

Jacob barely heard her, he was still chasing his bliss, but when it fell heavy-light over him, head to toe, the words echoed _I win… again._

He blinked at Bella's cheek, kissed her fevered skin breathlessly. "No way. Not again. You're cheating, you must be. Faking it somehow."

Bella laughed, tangled her hands in his hair, whispered "Maybe I am. Maybe you should try harder."

Jacob grinned as she pushed him gently down her body.

--

Happy, Sam/Emily/Leah

--

Sam was happy. No, it was more than happiness, it was a kind of euphoric, overwhelming relief that flooded through every bend and twist of his body.

He had won.

It felt like he'd been fighting some endless war, even if it had only been three weeks of roses, sweet peas, noble words and heart-felt pleas…

Now Emily was his. Sam was happy.

Emily felt sick. She felt sick when Sam said he adored her, sick when she kissed him with more passion than she had known she possessed.

Emily was in love, but she wasn't _happy._ She couldn't be.

--

Challenge, Garrett/Kate

--

Garrett fell against the door, pulling Kate with him. He'd just kissed her for the first time, the second, third, fourth… She was stroking his face, whispering his name with little sighs and smiles.

Garrett smirked. "You know, I didn't think you'd let me win this easily. It's a shame really, I like a challenge."

Kate rolled her eyes, drew back. "Alright, go and fetch me the moon or some stars. Something romantic like that. Only then may you have another kiss."

Garrett laughed, leaned in, but she shrugged out of his embrace, nose in the air. "Only _then,_ Garrett."

--

Lust, Edward/Bella

--

Every day that Edward does not eat Bella Swan is a victory.

He has never known bloodlust like this before, and it is all the more maddening because he has never known _lust_ like this before.

In every school he's ever been to he's heard his juvenile classmates snicker internally, question his sexuality in the crudest possible terms.

At one point he wondered whether they might be right, struggled in vain to find an appeal in some of the handsomer males who crossed his path.

But woman or man, nobody ever spoke to him, nobody even whispered.

Bella Swan _sings._

_--_

Meaning I, Jacob/Bella

--

There was a battle and his side won. That's one thing Jacob knows.

And then he is sure there is something else he should be celebrating… something that trumps the end of a war, something bigger and brighter, better than anything else…

_Bella. She kissed me, kissed me like she meant it, she did mean it, she meant it, she meant…_

The morphine swallows his thoughts whole, takes the seething pain for a chaser, and it's fine out, sun, sand, he dips his toes in the water, goes under…

_So warm, wet, soft and open, she meant it, she meant…_

--

Meaning II, Jacob/Bella

--

When Jacob wakes up he wishes he hadn't.

First because he's in fucking _agony._

Second because she's not there. Bella isn't there and if the kiss had meant what he'd thought it meant, there would be no other place for her to be than by his side.

When she does show up, all trembles and apologies before she even speaks, his heart sinks, under the sea, under the seabed, and down, down…

She felt it, _he knows she did. _

And still she'll turn, walk away…

He has lost.

The battle is won, but Jacob Black has lost everything, even hope.

--

Flickers, Victoria

--

They say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die.

It's true of dead things too, when they are ripped apart and burned.

Victoria's mind scatters with her body, she sees with her feet, tastes with the tips of her fingers, and the _smell,_ that's somewhere in her stomach, maybe, or the curl of her hair…

There are flickers.

_Stained snow, stinking pelts… Bats, balls, ball gowns, billowing, Bella, blood… The first kiss, brutal-sweet, James, James…_

_Soft bites, hot thump and trickle… Black-eyed, terrified, cold like I never… and a new name, Victoria… It suits you, you'll be…  
_


End file.
